ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Is Moyes on the Ferguson Model?

Following last season's failed bid to get Aaron Ramsey and the acquisition and development of top quality youth, including our supposed interest in Fabian Delph, I just started to wonder if Moyes sees this as the ONLY way for EFC to have a tilt at the title, given our financial difficulties.

Recalling one of his quotes last year, he seemed to suggest that it would take 3 to 4 years to build a quality Everton side and some people took that to mean he was resigning himself to be second best and excusing the current squad. However, Ferguson started at Man Utd relatively unsuccessful and then started to track down and poach all the top youth players and as we know, unfortunately, the rest is history.

I have been involved in football long enough to know everything has a cycle and I do believe ours is now on an upward one but can we attract the top youth players in the face of big money offerings from the top 4 and Man City and 'Appy 'Arry??? Only time will tell.

We know from the Rooney experience that heads can be turned but let's hope they can be turned in our direction from now on.
Jay Harris, Liverpool Posted 13/06/2009 at 12:32:59

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Marco Tornini
1 Posted 13/06/2009 at 17:38:51

Report abuse

"Have a tilt at the Title" - Dream on pal!

Ian Tunny
2 Posted 13/06/2009 at 17:39:00

Report abuse

We cant afford to go out and buy the finished product on big wages, so the only option for Moyes is to bring in youth players, up-and-coming stars, Championship players, failed and underachieving players, and loan players. It seems one big money signing a season is the limit. This way, the players always have something to prove and have more hunger to succeed.

Moyes's technique for picking a player seems to be getting in players who are top of the goals scoring charts or players voted Championship Player of the Season or Players' Player of theSeason, which is a good idea because, if a player wins Player of the Season with a team you know, they must be hard workers because the fans know more about their own players than anyone.

To win Players' Player, you know the player must be well liked in the dressing room and must have a good attitude, players like Jagielka and Lescott have won these awards for their previous teams. This Fabian Delph seems to tick all the boxes regarding personal awards at Leeds as well as being an up-and-coming talent who could be worth double in a couple of seasons time.

Brian Williams
3 Posted 13/06/2009 at 18:19:20

Report abuse

Jay. I fully agree with you and was considering posting something similar myself. I think Moyes DOES realise we can?t buy the title and is looking at 19-, 20-year-old?s (or younger) a la Shkodran Mustafi and Femi Orenuga. Expect another three or four of these young prospects over the coming weeks, I?d say. Wouldn?t say it?s with a view to the title, more likely a regular top four spot, and then who knows?

If there?s one thing Moyes is, that?s shrewd! And I think he has a long-term plan which involves tying in the backbone of the team to long-term deals and then bring in these youngsters and let the team grow. If, in the meantime, there?s investment, then so much the better!

Richard Parker
4 Posted 13/06/2009 at 18:08:15

Report abuse

I think it?s safe to say that the only way for us to progress is to buy players with potential and help them to realise that potential.

Moyes has an incredibly tricky job now. To find players that improve our first XI is tough, with the resources at his disposal. Cahills, Artetas, Lescotts, etc don?t come along often and we have quite a lot... lump Pienaar, Howard, Jags and Yobo in and that?s most of our first choice side all bought for what I?d call bargain prices.

Fellaini is a player with potential, despite his £15M price tag. If we want to break the top-4, the only way to do this is to bring in players that are going to improve in the next couple of years and be patient.

We need the cream of the youngsters, who will become the stars of tomorrow. I?d say that Fellaini and Rodwell are certainly in this category, hopefully Gosling will be and we?ve got the new German lad in, so fingers crossed, that?ll be 3.

I don?t think Anichebe will make it and Vaughan desperately needs a change of luck this coming season.

I?d love 2 or 3 players to come in to immediately improve the first XI, but I?ll settle for 3 or 4 top young players who have the potential to be class.

Michael Evans
5 Posted 13/06/2009 at 19:06:50

Report abuse

Good post - I agree that trying to keep the good players we do have and build promising young players around them is the way forward.

Mike Evans
6 Posted 13/06/2009 at 19:22:33

Report abuse

I agree with Michael, it is important to prevent any misgivings and keep our better players IMO.

Andy Crooks
7 Posted 13/06/2009 at 23:54:10

Report abuse

Some good points, Jay. You refer, though, to our bid for Ramsey, as if it was serious. At the time we allegedly bid for him it was no more than an attempt by our chairman to try to look like someone with ambition.

Jimmy Crack
8 Posted 14/06/2009 at 04:30:32

Report abuse

Andy, what the hell? What evidence do you have of that?

I’m not the biggest fan of Kenwright but come on now, don’t turn this thread into an attack on the chairman

Derek Thomas
9 Posted 14/06/2009 at 07:16:07

Report abuse

There are worse way to pick players than, potential very good, keen, young and hungry. I wonder if you were to ask Ramsey at Christmas after 18mths if he thinks he made the right move Re the 1st team going to the Gunners ? and if he wavers, just say one word to him... Rodwell.

The more players we give chances to, the more will think that this is the place to come.

Ben Jones
10 Posted 14/06/2009 at 10:55:22

Report abuse

I do think that?s what Moyes is thinking of trying to do, and without investment, is the only ever so slightly realistic way of breaking into the top 4. I think ideally, and what Richard Parker has kind of said, are young-ish players who will improve the team, and then have the potential to improve it again. But those kind of players are quite rare and cost a hell of a lot of money. An example is Moutinho, he?s only 22 or 23, and he will definitely improve our team, and of course has the potential to be better. But the only problem is he?d cost easily over £10 million.

Gavin Ramejkis
11 Posted 14/06/2009 at 14:30:47

Report abuse

Ben, I think therein now lies the problem. The world and his dog all know about the cash cow which is the EPL; British lower league sides with decent youth players know they will lose them but only for a fee likely to keep that club afloat for at least a year through that sale alone, so its unlikely to see many UK based players below say £3-4 million and any real gems going much higher.

European sides' youth players will similarly be hawked by their agents for a fat pay check with inflated prices and the risk they won't settle as, despite the success Arsenal has had, not all foreign players are success stories. It?s a Catch-22 really with the best youth talent now approaching the same prices as worthy squad fillers.

Trevor Lynes
12 Posted 15/06/2009 at 08:19:49

Report abuse

I agree with most of the posts and hope that DM carries on bringing in good ?young? talent but I think he should be making moves to bring them in now before he dispenses with players already at the club.

Valente may well have been worth retaining until we have bedded in a proper left back replacement for Baines if he gets injured or suspended... I don't think we have a good enough right back on the books in either Jacobsen or Hibbert and I don't want Lescott playing at left back because he does not have the pace to do the job that Baines does for the team and he obviously dislikes playing there anyway.

I just hope and pray that we do not bring in either Owen or Smith because both are well past their prime and it would be a retrograde step to my mind.

We need a Moutinho and a Palacious to really maintain a serious challenge plus a hope that our youngsters can maintain their improvement and push for first team inclusion by right.

Damian Kelly
13 Posted 15/06/2009 at 09:48:48

Report abuse

Agree that promising youth is the way forward given our financial constraints. However, as with Arsenal, I think this will at best give us the incremental improvement of a better tilt at 4th place rather than the title. Having CL money for a couple of seasons would then enable us to aim at some of the star players.

If, as seems likely, money stays tight, the only way that we can afford to buy the really top class players is to buy someone like a Lescott for £3-4 mil and then sell them for £15-20 mil and reinvest.

The risk of the gradual approach is whether some of ths established stars (Arteta, Cahill etc) are still around by the time the youngsters properly develop ? therefore you potentially always end up one or two players away from moving up to the next level (again, as per Arsenal over the past few seasons).

What I?m really enjoying is genuinely feeling that we are aiming upwards (whether we get there or not is another thing...).